A/HRC/28/27 OHCHR, together with the network, organized an expert consultation for the Middle East and North Africa region that focused on joint strategies to support follow-up on recommendations from various human rights mechanisms regarding minority rights issues. In order to facilitate awareness-raising about the content of the guidance note, the network is publishing it in several United Nations official languages. 34. One of the action points calls for intensifying system-wide interaction with mechanisms such as the Forum on Minority Issues. It is in this context that OHCHR made its first-ever intervention on behalf of the network, at the Forum’s seventh session. The relevance, to the United Nations system, of this year’s Forum theme is also reflected in the Secretary-General’s guidance note, which highlights the importance of taking enhanced action to advance the rights of minorities by, inter alia, encouraging “constructive management of diversity to address identity-based tensions, including culturally attuned preventive measures focusing on the most important risk factors”. IV. Human rights treaty bodies 35. Human rights treaty bodies have addressed minority issues throughout the reporting period, as illustrated by the following examples. A. Concluding observations 36. The Human Rights Committee, at its 110th session (10–28 March 2014) adopted concluding observations on Kyrgyzstan, the United States of America, and Latvia. The Committee noted Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to integrate minorities into political and public life, but remained concerned about the low level of representation of minorities in political and public institutions both at the national and the local level (CCPR/C/KGZ/CO/2). With regard to the United States of America, the Committee remained concerned about the practice of racial profiling, and about surveillance by law enforcement officials targeting certain ethnic minorities, notably Muslims (CCPR/C/USA/CO/4). As regards the concluding observations on Latvia, the Committee addressed questions of the status of “non-citizen” residents and the situation of linguistic minorities in the country (CCPR/C/LVA/CO/3). 37. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, at its 52nd session (28 April–23 May 2014), adopted concluding observations on China, including Hong Kong, China, and Macao, China. The Committee expressed concern that, despite the measures adopted by Hong Kong, China to ensure equal access to 12-year free education, children of ethnic minorities continued to face discrimination. The Committee recommended that Hong Kong, China ensure, through legislative and other measures, that all children, including ethnic minority children, have free access to compulsory education on an equal basis with other children (E/C.12/CHN/CO/2). 38. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, at its 84th session (3– 21 February 2014), reviewing the seventh, eighth and ninth periodic reports of Switzerland, remained concerned that Traveller communities and Yenish, Manush, Sinti and Roma continue to face obstacles in accessing education and in preserving their language and lifestyle. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen its efforts to promote and protect the rights of national minorities, particularly with regard to access to education and preservation of their language and lifestyle (CERD/C/CHE/CO/7-9). 39. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, at its 65th session (13–31 January 2014), adopted concluding observations on Germany. It expressed concern about the rise of the poverty rate and the at-risk-of-poverty rate among children, with children from single9